Upstar M280A1 28'' UHD 4K LED-Lit Monitor

Well it was a heck of a deal. When i got it, i had everything. I put it together and it started right up. I connected it to my laptop with its hdmi 1.4 into the monitor 1.4 input. I used the hdmi that came with it. A whole lot of problems occur and i have not even finished day 2. The resolution wont display properly, sound sometimes doesn't want to go threw, it constantlh reset it self. Very disappointed. Never buying a product from upstar again. Im going to try a different hdmi cable, if that doesnt work, i am going to return it and opt in for a lil more expensive one like dell.

Having one dead pixel wasn't so bad, but my major issue with it was that every time I had to move it and unplug it from power, it reset EVERYTHING. The menu went to Chinese, and half the time, only part of the menu was on the screen. The first time I set it up, I had it plugged into a UPS that turned off when the computer turned off. It took me 45 minutes to figure out how to fix it, and customer service was no help. I figured it was a fluke, until I rearranged my desk, and had to unplug it to move it to another outlet. This time, the menu was in a different place, only the top third of it was visible, and I only had seconds before the sleep function took over, because it refused to accept that anything was plugged into it. once the sleep function took over, I had to power it off, and back on, to mess with the menus again.Needless to say, I returned the product.The only reason I gave it two stars is because when it worked, the image was great, but I don't recommend it for gaming. The refresh rate was low, causing blurring and cuts in fast video.

OK, let's get the important part of the review out of the way right out of the gate. Would I recommend this monitor *AT THE PRICE I PURCHASED IT* - which has changed dramatically in the last week from $350 to $460. Yes. Would I recommend it at the current price? Maybe, but probably not as you're getting into Asus territory and there are some more reliable companies selling similar panels in that price range.Pros:A crystal clear 4K UHD display (3840 x 2160 16:9 @ 60Hz through Display Port)Included 3 connection cables. HDMI, DVI-D, and Display Port.A very comprehensive menu for fine tuningDecent color accuracy (99% sRGB, ~80% Adobe RGB)Cons:Extremely glossy. Blacks turn into a mirror.The gap between the panel and the glass is about 1/4"Smelled like dying of cancer when I opened the boxPower cable connection is cheap and feels like it's not entirely machined correctly when inserting the power cable.The quality of each monitor appears to be fairly random per other reviews.Build quality is hit and miss. Some parts of the bezel look perfectly machined. Other parts look glued on after the fact.Dual-panel which means sometimes you get the 'half screen' issue that plagues a lot of 4K monitors.Some buyers report only getting HDMI cables.Speculatively, I'd wager that this panel comes off of the same production lines as many high-end panels. There are many companies that will do runs after their contracted runs and sell those to small Chinese manufacturers and looking at this panel I'd guess that's what's going on here. The box was actually a joy to read. World Famous Brand! The company also appears to be very in tune with demand as the price has climbed with every single sale. So what does that mean as a consumer? Probably that you should look very carefully at other monitors in the price range when buying as you may be on a high cycle and are paying too much.The monitor performs as advertised for me. I say 'for me' again because other reviewers have had different experiences. Some have had dead pixels. Some have had dust inside the glass. Mine was free from those defects out of the box (which was dirty, dented, and pretty road worn when it got to me. The box INSIDE the Amazon shipping box, that is).What can you expect from this monitor? Well, it's too cool by default. But that's very easily remedied through the extremely generous menu. I love the granularity of image control on this thing. Warming it helps a great deal with the image. Sharpness is locked using Display Port, as it should be. It doesn't introduce artificial sharpening artifacts. It is far more reliable than my Dell monitor when it comes to not losing its mind on boot and displaying half the screen or no image at all. So, a huge win for UpStar there. If you're new to 4K, do your research. Pushing pixels is a tough job and most graphics cards - ESPECIALLY integrated cards - have a hard time doing it at 60Hz. So before you blame any 4K monitor for poor refresh, make sure you're using a card that can handle it. The Intel 4000 series, in example, will detect and allow 4K at 60, but in actual use you can see frames dropping constantly. A 980GTX is going to make this panel hum like nobody's business though. I've tested on both and a great card is essential for getting the most out of any 4K display.Final thoughts - this monitor represents a risk due to the type of manufacturing company you're dealing with. It was a gamble that I was willing to take at the lower end of the price cycle. It's not one I'd recommend above $375US just because other reviewers have clearly received displays that are lower quality. But if you roll a 20 and happen to get one that's without those flaws, you're going to be very happy with this display.

The monitor worked fine until a few weeks ago when ti started flickering and getting red lines through it on occasion, then it quit recognizing any inputs at all. I am rating it 2 stars as of now because I've never had a monitor die on me, and pending the outcome of the RMA process from Upstar I will update this and the number of stars to reflect the outcome.It cost me 95 dollars to ship it to them, and that was on me, but they did a quick turn around. If they would have covered the shipping both ways on their product it would have gotten 5 stars.